Years of experience create valuable mentor

A few different career paths

Over the course of her career, Montee has worked many jobs. She has been a baby-sitter, waitress, mental health professional, served in the U.S. Army, and continues teaching parttime. Currently, and perhaps most rewarding, she has found her niche working as a self-employed landlady. She now owns a dozen rental properties in Duluth, including her own residence, a modest Arts and Crafts home in East Hillside. Montee’s life has taken some interesting twists and turns along the way, but she has learned to embrace the curveballs.

Open heart, open door

Montee cares deeply about people, and she extends this nurturing instinct to just about everyone in her life. Over the years, she has rented rooms in her home to friends, nurses, medical students — even a tugboat captain.

Her house is also home to a tiny Yorkshire terrier named Twinkle, who was adopted from a rescue group in the Twin Cities. The dog was hard to place because she has a heart condition requiring daily medication, and she doesn’t have any teeth. “But she’s happy, and just as sweet as can be,” Montee said.

Montee also takes her tenants, many of whom are college students, under her wing. She offers to teach them how to take care of simple things on their own.

Last week, a tenant had no hot

Continued on page 24 water. “With everyone carrying a cellphone,” Montee said, “I was able to have the tenant walk to the basement and check if the water heater was on ‘vacation mode.’ The tenant was able to turn the dial, I saved a trip, and the student conquered a small hurdle with big rewards.”

Minnesota

Montee, her brother Joe and sister Mary were born and raised in St. Paul. Her dad worked for the post office, and her mom worked at Ramsey County Hospital (now Regions Hospital).

When Montee was just 16, her father took his own life. He had served in the Army during World War II and suffered a suspected traumatic brain injury when his Jeep hit a landmine. It’s hard to know for certain how that accident affected him.

North Dakota

After her husband’s death, Montee’s mother resolutely packed up her life and family and moved back to North Dakota, where her family lived. She eventually remarried, after putting an ad for a husband in a North Dakota newspaper. A shy Norwegian bachelor farmer answered the ad. Montee’s stepfather, a lifelong bachelor with no children of his own, was a good farmer and a great man, Montee said.

Montee graduated from high school in Dickinson, N.D., and then graduated from college at North Dakota State University in Fargo. She earned an undergraduate degree in psychology, then returned to NDSU to earn a master’s degree in the same field.

House No. 1

During this time, Montee bought her first house: a starter home in Dickinson, for which she paid $30,000. Prices were low because of the oil boom/bust happening in the ’80s. This purchase made a huge impact on Montee’s future. “Buy low, sell high,” she advised. “But beware; not everyone makes money on real estate.”

As a young woman, Montee got married and had two daughters: Meagan, now 22, and Maren, 19. The girls’ father received a job opportunity in Duluth, which was the catalyst that brought the family back to Minnesota.

Fate has other plans

Upon arriving in Duluth, a pretty painted lady caught Montee’s eye. “This Queen Anne Victorian had eight different colors of exterior paint, period wallpaper, high ceilings, hardwood floors, tiled fireplaces, stained glass, pocket doors, the works,” Montee said. She planned to turn the house into a bed and breakfast. She studied the market, read up on the industry and went to work learning the bed-and-breakfast trade. “I discovered it was a lot of making beds and scrubbing toilets,” she said.

“I had already bought the house when I got a call from the hospital, offering me a job working on the adult mental health crisis unit,” Montee said. With the birth of her second child plus having a teenage foster daughter, Montee chose the security of the hospital job.

One good investment leads to many more

As a single mom, saving for college was often a challenge. She thought to herself, “Why not buy a house to use as a savings plan for my girls?”

A sweet, reasonably priced house in Chester Park was listed, and Montee and a friend from church, who also had two children in need of a college fund, got the rental ball rolling. Together, the women used this opportunity to learn about being landlords, studying everything from accounting, plumbing, wiring, legal issues and more.

While the home ultimately became a good investment for Montee, she said she can’t promise that good intentions will lead to success. “You can’t just assume you’ll make money on real estate,” she said. “You have to be really savvy and do your homework.”

After acquiring a few more houses, Montee bought a fixer-upper cabin on a lake. Together, she and her boyfriend gutted the walls, replaced windows, re-roofed the home and added log siding.

Leading landlady

Montee discovered that she is good at being selfemployed, and is very fulfilled by her work as a landlady. She eventually founded the Duluth Landlord’s Association and still serves as its president. The group meets the second Thursday of every month.

At their meetings, landlords use the opportunity to network and learn from each other. When there are issues affecting landlords, city councilors and other local policymakers will attend their meetings. “We try to offer education as often as possible,” Montee said. “I think everything works better when we understand things.”

Investing in her community

Montee has put down Duluth roots in a variety of ways. She serves on the board for her church, Unitarian Universalist Congregation. She volunteers her time through the Conflict Resolution Center as a neutral mediator at the St. Louis County Courthouse. She teaches counseling as an adjunct faculty at the College of St. Scholastica. And, she is in the process of getting back into foster care.

What is perhaps her favorite role, however, is that of mentor to other landlords and tenants, both formally and informally. “There are many women who have mentored me through my life, so I try to do the same,” she said.

Advice from a pro

When it comes to buying and selling real estate, this veteran homeowner shares: “Education is key. I would advise people to find a mentor, read and learn what you can, do your homework, and find good resources. You’ll need good legal advice, and I believe that Realtors are worth every penny. So, take the time to educate yourself, but don’t be afraid of making the purchase, either.” D